Southern Hemisphere Weekly Roundup #261

Argentina and Chile See in Final Days of 2024 Season with Snowpacks Shrinking

• The Southern Hemisphere ski season is winding down, with only a few resorts still open in Australia, New Zealand, and South America.
• New Zealand sees spring-like weather, with avalanche risks off-piste, but fresh snow is forecasted to close out the season.
• Argentina and Chile's ski areas are closing rapidly, with only a few centers still open for limited skiing as temperatures rise.

Southern Hemisphere Intro

The southern hemisphere's 2024 ski season is truly in its final weeks. Many leading resorts closed last weekend, and of the dozen or so still open, most will end their seasons this Sunday. Some are still seeing subzero overnight temperatures, but most aren’t getting down to zero even then, and daytime highs are topping 10°C in many areas, so the snow is melting increasingly quickly. With Perisher closing last week, and the last major center still open in the country, Australia has joined Lesotho in southern Africa in reaching the end of its 2024 season. In fact, Perisher was not the last Australian ski area open, as Mt. Mawson in Tasmania reopened at the weekend after fresh snowfall there. It looks like all resorts will be closed in Argentina by the end of the coming weekend too, leaving just a few centers open in Chile and New Zealand as of next Monday.

New Zealand Report

The first of New Zealand’s larger commercial ski centers ended their 2024 seasons at the weekend, but most are continuing until next weekend, and in some cases, like Cardrona (40/115cm / 16/46”), The Remarkables (62/227cm / 24/89”), now posting the country’s deepest snowpack, and Mt. Hutt (75/195cm / 30/78”), the following weekend. Most resorts are trying to stay open for the latest school holiday period. Coronet Peak (65/160cm / 32/64”) has joined the growing list of areas that have ended their 2024 seasons. Spring-like weather has prevailed over the past few days, with predominantly sunny skies and temperatures reaching +10°C or higher on lower slopes, and in some cases staying above freezing by a degree or two overnight. There is, however, a warning of high avalanche danger away from prepared slopes, with several incidents reported over the past week. On the North Island, conditions remain the best they’ve been all season, albeit rather late. There’s still only limited terrain open, but more than there was all winter on Mt. Ruapehu, where Whakapapa (10/72cm / 4/25”) and Turoa (27/120cm / 11/48”) continue to battle to keep as much open as they can for as long as possible.

New Zealand Forecast

After the dry, warm conditions of the last few days, it looks like a return blast of winter through the remainder of this week, with temperatures dropping back down well below freezing overnight, cooler daytime temperatures, and snow showers expected daily through the weekend.

Argentina Report

Sunday saw most of Argentina’s ski areas close for their 2024 seasons, including the largest, Catedral, near Bariloche, and the famous powder haven of Las Leñas. Ski touring continues, however, with excellent conditions reported this year. The world's most southerly ski area, Cerro Castor in Tierra del Fuego province, has also closed. Two centers remain open: Chapelco (35/300cm / 14/120”) is posting the deepest snowpack in the world and has 90% of its slopes open for what’s expected to be its final week of the season, although both stats are down about 10% from a week ago. Caviahue (50/90cm / 20/36”), also expected to end its season this Sunday, has a more modest 1.6km (mile) of slopes available. Over the past week, temperatures have climbed well above +10°C in the afternoons for the spring melt, but overnight lows have still been as low as -5°C, creating freeze-thaw conditions, particularly on higher slopes.

Argentina Forecast

Sunny conditions are expected midweek, with afternoon temperatures climbing into the teens Celsius and overnight lows not really dropping below freezing except on the highest slopes, so it definitely feels like the end of the season.

Chile Report

More of Chile's ski areas closed at the weekend, including one of the larger operators, Nevados de Chillán, which joined the famous Portillo, which closed a week earlier. However, five of the country's larger centers remain open for at least a few more days, and in the case of Valle Nevado (35/155cm / 14/62”), after announcing a two-week extension to the season, until the latter half of the month. Base depths are gradually declining across the country, with warm afternoon temperatures, but Valle Nevado still reports its slopes 95% open, and its Tres Valles connections to neighboring La Parva (35/145cm / 14/58”) and El Colorado (25/135cm / 10/54”) mean that between them, they have over 100km (63 miles) of slopes open—the most in the world at present. It has been a mostly dry week, with a good deal of cloud and temperatures in the -5 to +15°C range. Local ski companies are reporting that snow is still lying very deep on higher slopes from the big falls back in May and June, and they are predicting an epic 2024 ski touring season.

Chile Forecast

The weather is expected to remain dry and mostly warm, with temperatures ranging from -6°C to +16°C. Some precipitation is expected at the start of next week, but it’s more likely to be rain than snowfall in most areas.